We don’t know about you, but we’re not really fond of putting money towards a wish. Sure, we may toss a penny into a fountain, but definitely not the cost of a print ad or a television spot. And this is precisely what you’re doing when you spend your marketing dollars without a clear marketing strategy.

Strategy can be a scary word evoking images of important looking people hunkered around a table with whiteboards and laptops all around, but really it’s just people who know the business and industry developing a well-thought out plan. This can be you since no one knows his customer better or an agency such as rustmedia with a team of experts trained in developing strategies for clients across all industries. No matter the size of the company or the budget, before you spend any money on marketing efforts, take time to do the following:

Identify your target audience. Who are you trying to reach and what media is best to reach them? Both traditional and non-traditional media have a role in the marketing landscape; it’s just a matter of finding the right one for your target audience.

Develop goals. What do you want your marketing efforts to accomplish? Are you focused on conversions or simply awareness of your brand or product? The answers to these questions play a large role in the messaging and mediums used in your campaign.

Determine your budget. When deciding how much you want to spend, take a look at how much a customer is worth to you and plan your budget accordingly. Keep in mind there are fairly inexpensive ways to reach your targeted audience. Social media especially can have a wide reach at a low spend and provide targeting and metrics not found with some traditional media.

Develop a timeframe. Brand loyalty and a strong customer base aren’t built overnight. Research shows a person needs to see or hear a marketing message at least 7 times before they typically take action. Unless you are running a specific promotion that requires the customer to take immediate action, give your campaign time to run before determining its success.

Define metrics of success. Strong marketing efforts always have metrics in place to determine ROI. Maybe it’s a special promotion tied to the effort or if it’s a digital campaign, a unique URL that can be tracked. There’s nothing worse than spending money on a campaign and having no idea whether or not it was successful.

We can’t guarantee these steps will lead to marketing domination but we can promise they will increase the likelihood that you aren’t wasting money on marketing efforts that don’t work.